Eco-friendly soil amendments improve growth, antioxidant activities, and root colonization in lingrain (Linum Usitatissimum L.) under drought conditions.

This study's primary purpose was to investigate the possible amelioration of limited irrigation conditions by mycorrhiza (AMF), vermicompost, and green manure for lingrain plants. This experiment was accomplished as a factorial based on the completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was green manure (without green manure and with Trifolium pratense as green manure); the second factor consisted of Rhizophagus irregularis mycorrhiza, vermicompost, a combination of mycorrhiza and vermicompost and none of them, and also the third factor was irrigation regime (full irrigation and late-season water limitation). Green manure, vermicompost, and mycorrhiza single-use enhanced the plant's underwater limitation conditions compared to the control. However, vermicompost and green manure or mycorrhiza developed a positive synergistic effect on most traits. Combining green manure with the dual fertilizer (mycorrhiza + vermicompost) resulted in the vermicompost and mycorrhiza synergistic effects, especially under limited irrigation. Consequently, the combination of green manure, mycorrhiza, and vermicompost experienced the highest amount of leaf relative water content, root colonization, leaf nitrogen, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, antioxidant enzymes activity, grain yield, and oil yield, which would lead to more resistance of plants to limited irrigation conditions.

Surface modification of PLGA nanoparticles via human serum albumin conjugation for controlled delivery of docetaxel.

BACKGROUND: Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) based nanoparticles are considered to be a promising drug carrier in tumor targeting but suffer from the high level of opsonization by reticuloendothelial system due to their hydrophobic structure. As a result surface modification of these nanoparticles has been widely studied as an essential step in their development. Among various surface modifications, human serum albumin (HSA) possesses advantages including small size, hydrophilic surface and accumulation in leaky vasculature of tumors through passive targeting and a probable active transport into tumor tissues. METHODS: PLGA nanoparticles of docetaxel were prepared by emulsification evaporation method and were surface conjugated with human serum albumin. Fourier transform infrared spectrum was used to confirm the conjugation reaction where nuclear magnetic resonance was utilized for conjugation ratio determination. In addition, transmission electron microscopy showed two different contrast media in conjugated nanoparticles. Furthermore, cytotoxicity of free docetaxel, unconjugated and conjugated PLGA nanoparticles was studied in HepG2 cells. RESULTS: Size, zeta potential and drug loading of PLGA nanoparticles were about 199 nm, -11.07 mV, and 4%, respectively where size, zeta potential and drug loading of conjugated nanoparticles were found to be 204 nm, -5.6 mV and 3.6% respectively. Conjugated nanoparticles represented a three-phasic release pattern with a 20% burst effect for docetaxel on the first day. Cytotoxicity experiment showed that the IC50 of HSA conjugated PLGA nanoparticles (5.4 µg) was significantly lower than both free docetaxel (20.2 µg) and unconjugated PLGA nanoparticles (6.2 µg). CONCLUSION: In conclusion surface modification of PLGA nanoparticles through HSA conjugation results in more cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines compared with free docetaxel and unconjugated PLGA nanoparticles. Albumin conjugated PLGA nanoparticles may represent a promising drug delivery system in cancer therapy.